Exploring the Lived Meaning of Digital Teaching Experiences among Language Educators in Online Learning Contexts

Abstract

The rapid digitalization of education has transformed the field of Applied Linguistics, redefining how teachers and learners engage, communicate, and construct meaning in online learning environments. Within this shift, the phenomenon of digital language teaching has become a critical subject of inquiry, as it encapsulates the complex intersection of pedagogy, technology, and professional identity. However, little is known about how educators experience and make sense of this transformation at a personal and emotional level, leaving a gap in understanding the lived meaning behind digital teaching practices. Accordingly, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) How do language educators interpret their professional roles within digitally mediated teaching environments? and (2) What lived meanings do they construct as they navigate digital pedagogical practices? This study employs an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the essence of language teachers’ lived experiences as they adapt to and interpret their professional roles in digitally mediated contexts. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit ten English language educators with at least three years of online teaching experience, and data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The analytical procedure followed IPA’s iterative stages of reading, coding, and thematic interpretation, enabling the identification of shared meaning structures and transformative experiences. Three key themes emerged: (1) digital teaching as an ongoing process of professional identity reconstruction; (2) emotional negotiation shaped by uncertainty, cognitive load, and evolving self-efficacy; and (3) relational redefinition as teachers recalibrated presence, connection, and communicative agency in virtual spaces. The results reveal that online teaching is not merely a technical adjustment but a process of identity reconstruction, emotional negotiation, and relational redefinition, highlighting the human depth of digital pedagogy. These findings extend theoretical understanding in applied linguistics by framing digital education as an existential experience of becoming rather than a procedural shift. This study contributes to the development of more reflective, empathetic, and human-centered approaches to teacher education and offers new directions for cross-cultural and longitudinal phenomenological research.